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In Desperate Pursuit of Positivity

4 min read
by The Fighting Cock
Heading away from White Hart Lane I struggled to comprehend the one nil Premier League defeat inflicted by Wigan, but most troubling of all was the manner in which Tottenham surrendered the three points. “There are no positives to take from that game, absolutely none.” “The curry stand was giving away free curry, that’s a […]

Heading away from White Hart Lane I struggled to comprehend the one nil Premier League defeat inflicted by Wigan, but most troubling of all was the manner in which Tottenham surrendered the three points.

“There are no positives to take from that game, absolutely none.”

“The curry stand was giving away free curry, that’s a positive” replied my friend.

“Yeah but it meant the whole stadium smelled of curry for 75 minutes.”

“Maybe thats why Hudd played so bad?”

Depressing as it seems though, at that moment heading home, the highlight of my day at White Hart Lane had been a little sample of free curry.

From the moment I walked into the stadium that afternoon there had been a strange vibe around the place. Perhaps it was the overbearing weight of expectation, losing was not a thought that had entered anyone’s consciousness.

However after many years of supporting Spurs, we have come to learn the hard way:

Expectation is not something Tottenham deal with very well.

Regardless of the failings and tactical ineptitude of the Spurs XI we must take some positives, no matter how small, from this unmitigated disaster.

[linequote]Depressing as it seems though, at that moment heading home, the highlight of my day at White Hart Lane had been a little sample of free curry[/linequote]

The quest to uncover hope from The Nothing on display at White Hart Lane on Saturday I admit is a selfish one. If I spend anymore time mulling over Tom Huddlestone, Kyle Walker or Jermaine Defoe, then like Artreyu’s horse Artax, in The NeverEnding Story, I will never emerge from my personal Swamp of Sadness.

The Iceman is slowly starting to cometh

The Icelandic international, made a promising start to his Spurs career with a decent performance away to Newcastle, but the moment Rafa van der Vaart was sold, the pressure proved too much for him.
Despite a couple of goals in the CO Cup and Europa League, his domestic performances haven’t been up to the standard wanted by Andre Villas Boas, or demanded by the Spurs support. Sigurdsson, unlike Clint Dempsey hasn’t been afforded the luxury of disguising poor Premier League performances with crucial away goals.

Sigurdsson’s slow start has also been exacerbated by the way in which Mousa Dembele has slotted in perfectly alongside Sandro, for a player we supposedly stole from Brendan Rodgers, we are still waiting to see why he was so highly regarded.

However on Saturday when Sigurdsson entered the field for Sandro after only 23 minutes, he was a faint ray of light amongst what was a maelstrom of nonsense and backwards passing. Spurs were well on their way to imploding and for a player suffering a crisis of confidence; this wasn’t the ideal situation to find himself in.

As the restlessness in the crowd grew, only Sigurdsson was willing to collect the ball in tight areas and attempt to move past opponents and open up space. The majority of the Spurs team were hiding, and given the size of Tom Huddlestone and the intimacy of White Hart Lane, that was quite a feat.

Sigurdsson continually attempted to create and draw the more attacking players in to the game, but found none forth coming.

I am not claiming that the former Reading man is set to be our saviour, but by continuing to demand the ball whilst more established players moved away or took the easy option, Sigurdsson showed a strength of character that will serve him well when he finally finds his feet.

The Icelandic international needs just one lucky break to show that in this team he is far more effective than Huddlestone or Jake Livermore.

A Christmas Carroll

Andre Villas Boas has shown that age is not a factor when it comes to playing for Spurs. He has already given Steven Caulker, Iago Falque, Andros Townsend and now Tom Carroll serious game time in competitive fixtures with established first team players, not squad players on the transfer list.

At one-nil down Wigan were conceding possession and seeking to attack solely on the counter, this opened up large space for our centre mid. With Huddlestone continuing to refuse the responsibility of dictating play, AVB sent on Tom Carroll.

[linequote]The majority of the Spurs team were hiding, and given the size of Tom Huddlestone and the intimacy of White Hart Lane, that was quite a feat[/linequote]

The youngster may not have turned the game but his hunger to be involved and his ability to knock off short quick passes then move for the return are indications that we may have a decent player in the making.

Luka Modric-esque he will have to rely on technique and vision to move through a congested midfield area, but in a game slowly drifting away from Spurs he was a lighthouse of hope. When a reserve shows more passion, skill and determination than our international line up, there is something fundamentally wrong.

It can’t get any worse

The most comforting thing that we can take from this game is that we can’t ever play that bad again and perhaps those watching from the director’s box will be encouraged to part with some January transfer money.

The game has also served as a reminder that we are still a long way short of being a team that can consistently challenge the top three. Perhaps in the long run a reality check before we go to the Ethidad and Emirates was the best thing for us.

All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.

3 Comments

  1. DessySpur
    05/11/2012 @ 7:08 pm

    I agree with your comments on the Icelandic lad, when he come on he shined but too many poor performances accross the team meant he was blunted, I thought Tom Carroll looked a little out of his depth bless him and not the best game to bring him on, I think Falque would have been a better option.
    Also as you put I think this will be reflected by a better performance at the Etihad…………………………………….. I hope

  2. Mike Gray
    05/11/2012 @ 8:43 pm

    Certainly playing keep ball amongst the back four and goalkeeper for ten minuets at a time is never going to get us any wins or friends, we must be the most boring team in the division at the moment and will be closer to the bottom of it by the end of the year. It is not the loosing it is the way we lost every player involved should donate his wages to amnesty international because we never put up much of a fight.

  3. Billy the yid
    06/11/2012 @ 7:31 am

    Think falque deserves a shot
    lloris
    Naughton Caulker gallas verts

    azza Sandro Carrol Bale
    Falque
    Ade

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